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Indianapolis-based visual artist Wayne Bertsch specializes in placing characters from comics and science fiction in unexpected settings.
Bertsch’s work includes paintings of Darth Vader using chopsticks on a cup of ramen noodles and Batman nursing a bottle of whiskey in a bar. While Marvel character Deadpool normalized the idea of pop-culture icons in unglamorous settings, Bertsch applies the filter to an array of good guys, bad guys, superheroes and villains.
“I like to show them juxtaposed in things they normally wouldn’t be doing,” Bertsch said.
An awareness of what sells contributes to what he paints.
“I guess people would say that some of the subjects are juvenile, but I’m not going to get a juvenile who will spend $300 on a painting,” he said. “You’re trying to appeal to basically somebody my age who grew up liking Yoda or whatever. It’s an attempt to serve both masters.”
Bertsch will display about 60 paintings in a new show titled “Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth” that opens Friday at Full Circle Nine Gallery in the northern building of Factory Arts District, 1125 Brookside Ave.
Known for his work as a Nuvo cartoonist and promoter of live music events, Bertsch is one of 20 member artists at the Full Circle Nine cooperative.
He also sells work at Fountain Square’s Nine Lives Cat Cafe, where feline-themed imagery is in demand. One of Bertsch’s recent pieces, “Hunter S. Tom Cat,” depicts late journalist Hunter S. Thompson as a cat.
Bertsch’s repertoire includes small framed paintings in which he interprets popular memes such as a literal dumpster fire or the comics character Question Hound offering a deadpan “This is fine” while a room is ablaze.
“I envision that people buy it and put it in their cubicle at work,” he said of these paintings. “It would a funny thing at work that suggests, ‘Welcome to the dumpster fire.’”
Regarding the exhibition title “Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth,” Bertsch said it refers to the sustained popularity of movies and TV shows based on superhero comic books—as well as to the rise of graphic novels. Viewers may not realize, he said, that “Snowpiercer,” “Road to Perdition” and “A History of Violence” were films adapted from graphic novels.
“If it’s not a superhero story, people just assume it came from some other bit of literature,” Bertsch said. “But that’s not necessarily the case.”
Ohio native Bertsch moved to Indiana in 1998, and he’s been a comic book store owner in both states. He said he’s grateful for the visual art and music communities in Indianapolis. As a live music promoter, he’s organized tribute shows in which local artists have performed songs popularized by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Buck Owens.
“One thing that honestly frustrates me is people who complain about Indianapolis after growing up here and never leaving town,” Bertsch said. “I think they don’t realize how good Indianapolis really is. We have a lot going on here.”
‘Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth’
- When: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday for the opening reception, then noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in January.
- Where: Full Circle Nine Gallery in the northern building of Factory Arts District, 1125 Brookside Ave.
- Admission: Free.
- Info: Visit fullcirclenine.com.
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